Coffee & collaboration: Why Bridgehead is coming to Carleton

When the Sprott School of Business at Carleton University opens its doors in the winter of 2021, it will share its home with an outlet of a local coffee chain: Bridgehead Coffee.

This may not sound like anything particularly remarkable but as is the case with any endeavour of the Ottawan fairtrade coffeehouse, there’s a lot more to the arrangement than a simple tenancy agreement.

According to a media release, Carleton University and Bridgehead Coffee have struck a partnership – and it entails a whole lot more than serving coffee to students and faculty at the university.

“The Sprott School of Business is embarking on initiatives in sustainability and social enterprise – all things that make the planet better,” Bridgehead Chief Culture Officer Tracey Clark explains.

As Bridgehead’s 40 years of existence was built around the same values of sustainability and social enterprise, it made sense for them to work with the school to advance its plans.

The coffee chain and Carleton have established an “educational partnership” for this purpose, one that represents the shared vision of both parties for the “future of business and for developing a generation of changemakers who will make a positive impact on the world”.

In short, Bridgehead Coffee and Carleton University are teaming up to inspire the future leaders of business that aim to do well by doing good.

Businesses just like Bridgehead Coffee.

Bridgehead is a socially-responsible business that has made serious commitments to the environment, to the small-scale farmers that provide the product for the business and to its certification of fairtrade.

As part of the arrangement, Bridgehead Coffee will lend its story to a case study to be authored by Sprott and used across its courses, from entrepreneurship, marketing and business strategy to operations and supply chain management. 

There will also be further opportunities for collaboration between both partners, such as strategic events focussed on sustainability and social innovation.

Bridgehead Coffee leaders will also be invited to the campus to conduct seminars, speeches and guest lectures, among others.

To help facilitate these initiatives, the coffeehouse will establish a presence in the Carleton campus in the Nicol Building, where Sprott will reside. 

“We are thrilled to be partnering with Bridgehead Coffee,” says Sprott Dean Dana Brown.

“As a business school, we need to be preparing the next generation of business influencers to really think differently about how they set up their business, to consider their social impact and the well-being of society.

“Working with Bridgehead will give us a great opportunity to profile a business that has social impact, a positive effect on its community, and that is led by a dynamic, female entrepreneur.”

The Nicol building, named after the late Ottawa real estate icon Wes Nicol, is currently under construction.